Peggy & Sandra didn't share a womb but will share this challenge

[Sandra, Moderator]

[Sandra, Moderator]

So, we agreed on reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay and I am SO looking forward to it!

[Peggy]

Hahaha, love the title Sandra! I'm glad you opened this thread and not me.

I'm looking forward to it too. It's been on my TBR for a long time and I feel I should read it as it seems to be one of those books that everyone has read, except me. And you.

For some reason I'm a bit worried though that it will be a experience like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which is also a very well-known and popular WWII book with a child as MC, but I didn't care for it. Only one way to find out!

[Pragya]

Love the title. I am with you, Peggy and Sandra. Been wanting to read this book but never did. Who knows I might join you, surreptitiously and peek in at your discussion. ;)

[Cherie]

I have this book to read too. I started once and put it down.

[Peggy]

Pragya, feel free to post and not just peek if you end up reading it too this month.

Cherie, why did you put it down?

[Sandra, Moderator]

Was it too sad, Cherie? That is my only concern with this book.

[Sarah]

I own the book too. But I keep passing it by on my kindle for some reason.

[Janice, Moderator]

Our book club read Sarah's Key and really enjoyed it. I gave it 4 stars. I didn't read Boy in the Suitcase, so I can't compare the two.

It is a WWII story. I don't remember it being overly sad, but it left a lasting impression. The ending has a wallop.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Good to know, Janice. Now I want to know the end. :)

I got an email from my library that it is ready for me to pick up, so I will have it ready to start in February, whenever it works better for both, Peggy and me.

[Peggy]

I'm totally flexible regarding our starting date Sandra. Do you have a preference?

[Sandra, Moderator]

No, I don't. My reading pace is being crazy. Some days I read for 3 hours and others I can't read at all. So I plan to just start it whenever we agreed, and read it along with what I am reading at the moment, or pause the other book if I feel like it.

So you pick a date, or just let me know when you finish what you are reading and we start at that moment.

[Peggy]

Okay, let's start on the 2nd. That should give us time to finish before the toppler.

I'll probably also read it along side another book (my neverending 1200 page page chunkster) but I can put the other one on hold if I'm too slow.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Ok. Sounds like a deal.

[Cherie]

I think I was attracted to another book and never got back to it. I definitely remember where I was too. It was my second book in a row by this same author, and it may have had something to do with it. It was not that it was sad, it was more to do with that point in the story that you realize what happened. I still want to read it.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I keep reading this as "Peggy and Sandra didn't share a wombat..."

[Peggy]

Totallly true too Rus!

[Sandra, Moderator]

lol

[Sandra, Moderator]

Peggy, I brought the book from the library and was taking a look at it. It happens to have very short chapters (what I like) but the thing is they are not numbered or identified in any way. The first two chapters are marked "Paris, July 1942" and "Paris, May 2002", but it stops there. As far as I can see (I am just leafing through it) there isn't even divisions in parts or sections.
So I guess we will have to work in a way of marking spoilers. I thought that if we happen to have the same edition or two editions similar in the amount of pages, we can use page numbers. What edition do you own? Mine is:

Paperback
St. Martin's Griffins (publisher)
316 pages (it includes an interview with the author and also the first chapter of another of her books, so the story itself ends in page 293)

[Sandra, Moderator]

This is my copy, but according to GR is has 353 pages.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

[Peggy]

Good thing you noticed Sandra! I have an ebook. It has 189 pages although that always works a bit weird in ebooks as it's often that you need to read 2 or 3 pages on your ereader before it jumps from 78 to 79 for example. I think comparing with pages or percentages is going to be difficult.

I looked at the ebook and saw the date and expected the whole book to be like that. This makes it a bit more difficult! It really has a lot of very short parts, so it also doesn't seem very handy to count them or write down the first few words of the sentences.

We could either be careful (do not read my 13% spoiler when you're at 15%, but it's probably safe when you're at 20%) or go for one of the other options we had, if they do have proper chapters. What do you think?

[Sandra, Moderator]

Ok, so if our editions are so different, I guess the percentage is the closer we can get (it should be accurate enough I would say), and as you said, trying to be on the safe side and reading it a little "later". Let's see if this works. If not we might try a different approach on the go.

[Peggy]

Sounds like a plan :)

I think after a few posts we'll also know how much or books are off. Maybe it won't be so bad at all.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Exactly. That is my guess.

Looking forward to it!

[Peggy]

Sandra, I had my dates mixed up. All this time I thought the 2nd was on Saturday but it's not! Would you mind starting a day later, so the 3rd? Or you can start on the 2nd and I'll join you on the 3rd.

[Sandra, Moderator]

It is ok. Let's start on the 3rd. I am trying to make a bent in my real life book club book.

[Peggy]

I finished my other book yesterday, so I'm all set to get started today. Just have to do some cleaning and groceries first..

[Sandra, Moderator]

Great. I will start this afternoon too.

[Peggy]

I read the first few pages, 7% into the book. Some first thoughts:

I'm not sure I like the pace with which the story alternates between past and present. I've read a lot of dual timeline stories and really enjoy them, but mostly they have several chapters set in the past, and then several set in the present. Often, the past is the majority of the book, which I like, because that's always much more interesting than the present.
This book just mentioned 1942 and 2002 once, and now it keeps jumping across time every 2 pages. It gives me a rushed feeling.

About the actual story:
(view spoiler)[ We know from the blurb the girl is calles Sarah, so I wonder if the writing will change to her having a name instead of just being 'the girl'. It makes it feel like I'm reading a prologue to a story.

I hope the boy will be found! I worry his dad won't be back either... I think the apartment in the present day story is the one from the past. I wonder if there's a connection between the grandmother whose apartment it was, and the characters from the past. Maybe she's the girl? Or she's the wife of the boy in the cupboard?

Oh, and I don't like that Bertrand person, and also kind of wonder why Julia is with him. I can't imagine my partner deciding that we're going to move to another house without even consulting me! He seems a bit mean too, and it sounds like his only good feature is the way he looks. Make me wonder about the kind of person Julia is, why would you put up with all of that? It sounds like he completely controls their lives and she has nothing to say. (hide spoiler)]

And one more thing, but don't read this until you finish the book!!
(view spoiler)[ The Dutch title for this book is 'Her name was Sarah'. The fact that it is in past tense makes me wonder if the title of the book is already a spoiler and Sarah never survived the war. (hide spoiler)]

[Peggy]

I am enjoying it so far by the way. It's easy to read (in terms of writing style) and engaging.

[Peggy]

22% done.

This is a very quick read. I expected it to last me until the toppler, but that's not going to happen. I think I read the first 22% in just over an hour.

I don't like (view spoiler)[ what Julia discovered about Velodrome d'Hiver. Nobody returned? That's so horrible :( I think I've read about this before, maybe in another HF book on WW2? The rounding up of jews in that cycling stadium sounded familiar.

I don't like the Julia-Bertrand storyline. Too whiny for me, I don't have the patience for these kinds of stories/storylines. I also doubt if it's going to add anything. Julia being a journalist and investigating this event makes sense, but her love struggles seem irrelevant. (hide spoiler)]

[Peggy]

30% done.

(view spoiler)[ Aha, so the grandmother is not the girl or the wife of the brother in the closet. They were already older when that happen, I guess I could have done the math. I'm pretty sure the apartment is the one of the girl, not much surprise there.

It's said several times that many people in France or even Paris do not know about Vel d'Hiv. If that's actually true, that's really shocking.. even if they are ashamed that it happened and don't want to know or talk about it, these are whole new generations and they should know. I can't believe it's not taught in schools. (hide spoiler)]

Did you find some time to start reading Sandra? Let me know if I should take it slower, I still also have Oathbringer on the go so I can read that one for a bit.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Glad to know you are enjoying it Peggy. I am 16% into it. (view spoiler)[ I am also annoyed the author keeps using "the girl" instead of her name. I can't think of a reason for that. Is not that she is not naming other characters in that time line. The other people, even neighbors, have names.

I agree about Bertrand. I don't like him, and I don't like how Julia is so passive with him. I like Zoe, though.
I Julia going to have an affair with Guillaume? I think it possible.

I think the apartment is the connection between the two time lines, and I am not sure about the people, but they must be too. I just hope they don't find a little boy inside a hidden cupboard when they make reformations to the apartment! (hide spoiler)]

In the overall it is being an ok read for me. Both stories are engaging, and that is good. As you said, some times the present time tends to be the less interesting in dual times historical fictions. But in this case the story is good enough to let me wonder. Maybe the short chapters help, since we are not in the present time for long periods.

What I am struggling with is the writing. It is simple. Too simple. Simplistic actually. I am not fond of overly wordy and descriptive writing, but this is the other extreme. She doesn't describe anything. A little of Paris, but that is it. She doesn't say too much about the characters, or their feelings. She is telling about a very sad event in history, and it sounds cold and not empathetic at all. No that I want to cry during 300 pages, but she is not picturing the Jews in the stadium for me, it feels far and blurry, even considering I had already read about Vel' d'Hiv' before in another WWII historical fiction. (The Nightingale ? or maybe The Paris Architect ? Not sure.)

[Sandra, Moderator]

The forecast for today says a quite afternoon of reading, so I expect to get a little closer to where you are. Some sisters' rivalry might benefit the discussion. :D

[Peggy]

Sandra wrote: "Glad to know you are enjoying it Peggy. I am 16% into it. "

(view spoiler)[ Same! I keep on wondering if they will find a boy's skeleton in the cupboard. I hope that's not going to happen, I like to think he made it out somehow. I also wondered about a possible affair, but hope it won't happen. I hate affairs and I have problems with this storyline already. (hide spoiler)]

I understand what you mean about the writing. I think I felt the same when I wrote it felt rushed. I always feel like books about topics such as WW2 are books that need care and take a while to read and digest, but I can't help going through this one pretty fast. I wonder if part of the simplistic writing is due to the fact that it's told from the perspective of a 10-year old girl. I did feel moved a few times by the events in the past, but not as often or as much as in other books I've read. It feels more like facts than feelings. Now that you mention her descriptions of Paris, I hadn't noticed before but you're right. There's not much scene setting. I started to notice in the last few parts that the author keeps flinging street names and park names around, but they don't mean anything to me. It feels like she tries to show off her knowledge of Paris.

[Sandra, Moderator]

The 10 years old girl perspective is what I thought as an excuse. At the same time, wouldn't she be completely terrified by what she is seeing. I think it is a big flaw in the book.

Another thing is I find the story full of common places, for example Herve and Christophe (view spoiler)[Isn't she picturing them as the "typical" gay couple? Too cliche for my taste. (hide spoiler)]
The dialogues sound unreal too.

Rant over. :) I promise to try to find more positive thing to say in my next post.

[Peggy]

Sandra wrote: "The 10 years old girl perspective is what I thought as an excuse. At the same time, wouldn't she be completely terrified by what she is seeing. I think it is a big flaw in the book.

Another thing..."

I'm so with you on Hervé and Christoph! (view spoiler)[ There was that, and also the way French and Parision people were described, that was just soooo stereotypical! (hide spoiler)]

Do you think reading a book together makes you more critical of it?

I'll try to be more positive too, but I actually came here for a little rant too..

41% in:
(view spoiler)[ A pregnancy and an affair? Come on! The 2002-story is starting to annoy me. I really don't see the added value of it, except for Julia being a journalist and renovating the house. The more I read about her the more I come to dislike her, especially because she seems so passive and weak.

I think the book would have been better if there was more about the past, with more detail and a slower pace, and less about the present.

As for the past: I'm glad the girl and her friend were able to escape, but isn't it all a bit too nice? Also, it didn't make sense that they wouldn't go into the village because obviously they realized they could be detected and brought back, and it's dangerous out there for them. Yet they don't hesitate knocking on the doors of several farms. Surely they must realize that's dangerous too. (hide spoiler)]

[Sandra, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "Do you think reading a book together makes you more critical of it?"

It might be. :) Probably if I were reading it by myself I would just roll my eyes and go on. Putting it in words makes it bigger, I think. But that is ok with me.
I have to admit I had very high expectations about this book. It is rated more than 4 stars among my GR friends, and in GR in general.

[Peggy]

I think also some things that you haven't noticed so much reading by yourself become more apparent when someone else points them out.

My GR friends have rated it 3.81. I was worried a bit before that that I wouldn't like the writing of the past story so much (same experience as I had with The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - too childish and unbelievable), but it's not that bad. The present-day story however...

I'm a bit conflicted. It's fast-paced and engaging and I want to know how it ends and want to continue reading, and that is generally what I need for a 4-star book. But still, I have several things that annoy me about it which would not make it 4 stars. Much easier to rate a book that you had to fight your way through.

[Peggy]

48% done: (view spoiler)[ I hate inconsistencies in books. It doesn't make sense that the girl is called Sarah on the paper Julia got, when her actual name is Sirka. Yes, she did change her name afterwards, but not legally and she was never found so nobody can know about this, and anyway the names of her family must have been written down by the Germans or the French police, or taken from some register, before they were taken, so she should have been Sirka on there. (hide spoiler)]

Taking a break now. I might read some more tonight or otherwise tomorrow.

[Cherie]

I was shuffling books around in my book case yesterday and found it. I am not going to read your spoilers but reading your comments makes me want to start reading it again. Maybe by the end of the month.

[Sandra, Moderator]

I am in the 48% mark, and at this point I read all your spoilers.

(view spoiler)[ I thought the same thing about her name. She was Sirka when she was taken in the roundup. Let's see if there is an explanation for this later...

And I agree 100% with your spoiler in comment 37. Their escape was so unbelievable. As far as I know runaways from the camps were very rare in wwii, to start with. They are girls. At their first attempt they do it. That police boy was too nice. They gave them money! I don't know... Knocking in all these farms was stupid and dangerous. The old couple bringing a doctor they didn't know was also very unbelievable. And the Nazis letting it go because of some food and wine... I don't know. Maybe one of this things could have happened (sometimes reality is more unbelievable than fiction) but all of them at the same time to the same two girls? Very unlikely.

The 2002 story is incredibly annoying. I can't understand Julia. She is pregnant and she wants the baby, why would she ever consider the option of an abortion because her husband feels old??? Come on! She is 45 years old, not a terrified teenager! I don't care at all about her story. I just want her to find out what happened to Sarah and Michel. Julia, make us a favor, focus on your research and solve your stupid private problems later! (hide spoiler)]

I admit that if I were liking the story more, I would be more forgiving with its inconsistencies. Reading is very subjective after all. I am not disliking the story, I just feel a very good premise is being wasted.
The writing is still weak. I am more "involved" in the story now, I want to know how it ends, but I can't think of a twist that could make this story better than a 3 stars.

[Peggy]

I completely agree with all you write Sandra. (view spoiler)[ I think at some point that man looking for Holocaust survivors (Franck?) said that people did escape and farmers did help them, so it's not something that could not have happened. I know all over Europe there have been people who helped to hide Jews or help them escape. But it's like you say, just too many of these things that make the whole rather unbelievable.

I'm glad the 2002 story is not just me! I just want to slap her in her face. And WHY does it even have to be in the book?! (hide spoiler)]

Yes, I have had that before too, that the quality of the story or my liking of it influences how forgiving I am for mistakes or inconsistencies. I'm afraid I'm not very forgiving with this one..

I didn't read anymore yesterday evening so I'm still at 48%.

[Sandra, Moderator]

At least is being a quick read. :)

I probably will read more only at bedtime. It is a busy day for me, and it got worse with the school 2 hour delay for the snowfall last night. Still I expect to finish it in 2 or 3 more days.

[Peggy]

61% done.

(view spoiler)[ Oh no! The boy died in the cupboard! That makes me so sad :( I knew it was a possibility, and a logical one, but given the book was going with all Sarah's unbelievable actions, I kind of expected the boy to be rescued too. And that Sarah couldn't find him, and Julia organized a reunion between the two in the end. I'm glad the book is not going that way, but it would have been nice if the boy lived. I'm pretty sure Sarah's still alive and Julia will find her though.

And I don't want to waste too many words on the present day story anymore, but really, are we supposed to feel sorry for Betrand now because he's in a midlife-crisis and can't bear getting older?! When I read that I think I made certain sounds that I don't know how to type out, and my eyes rolled as far back in my head as they could. (hide spoiler)]

[Sandra, Moderator]

Re: your spoiler (view spoiler)[Yes, very sad when Sarah finds Michel. I also was expecting he to be alive, and in any case, if he was find in his hidden place it would be in the present time, or maybe in the first reform to the apartment mentioned, when it was joined with the apartment in front of it. That Sarah was the one who found it made it incredibly sad.

2002 keeps being a huge disappointment... (hide spoiler)]

[Sandra, Moderator]

76% done

(view spoiler)[At this point we know Sarah died in the States in 1972, and some of the events until that point. I still want to know why she stopped writing to Jules and his wife in France in 1955. I guess it has to be a reason. They save her life, it can't be just that their relationship grew cold. I hope...

The whole Julia story is unbearable at this point. Are we suppose to see her as a heroine because she got out of the clinic 5 minutes before her abortion? Was this part supposed to be "dramatic"? She is an idiot, Bertrand is an idiot. They should stay together.

But as you said, at this point I do not want to waste words in the present time line. Unfortunately all the chapters are set there now. (hide spoiler)]

[Peggy]

Sandra wrote: "Re: your spoiler "

I didn't think of it before, but at some point (view spoiler)[ Sarah mentioned that perhaps her neighbour the violin player had found Michel and taken care of him. It's sad that so many people were watching them being taken away, surely some neighbour must have noticed the boy wasn't with them? It's sad that nobody tried to find him. (hide spoiler)]

[Peggy]

Sandra wrote: "76% done.."

Yep, unbearable. My thought when two present day chapters followed each other: 'nooo! Is everything in the present from now on? I still have over 25% to go!! I think it's one of the most irrelevant storylines I've ever come across, and a bad one at that. (view spoiler)[ Going through with it, not going through. Bertrand being apparently depressed. Well, depressed or not, you don't go around basically ordering your wife to have an abortion.

I'm curious about that too. There must have been a reason, but I can'g think of anything. Maybe someone intercepted the mail?

I wonder what Sarah's son will say. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know of her history, it's not something you share with your child I think. Maybe his dad told him, but I don't know if Sarah would have told even him about her brother. Imagine he doesn't know and then he gets to hear such sad news about his mom's past, that would be horrible. (hide spoiler)]

[Peggy]

I was also a bit annoyed by (view spoiler)[ how easily they found Mr Rainsferd (the older one, Sarah's husband). Again a thing in this book that just goes too smoothly. (hide spoiler)]